Mobile BayBears hit homer in ninth inning to sink Jacksonville Suns

Suns second baseman Danny Black makes the throw to first for an out against the BayBears on Wednesday.

Down to the final strike that would end a three-game skid, Jacksonville’s losing ways instead continued when Jake Lamb delivered a two-out, three-run blast in the ninth inning Wednesday to give visiting Mobile a 6-4 win in front of 2,268 at the Baseball Grounds.

It was one of the toughest losses the Suns (17-22) have had this season. They battled back from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to take a 3-2 lead, allowed the BayBears to tie the score at 3-all in the sixth, then regained the lead with a run in the seventh.

That lead held up for just one inning.

Still looking for a dependable closer, Suns manager Andy Barkett turned to Nick Wittgren, who had already blown three leads and had one win in three decisions this year.

The move backfired when Wittgren issued a one-out walk followed by a single.

After striking out the next batter, Wittgren worked the count to 1-2 to the lefty Lamb, who then hit an outside pitch over the wall in left for his sixth home run this season.

“He was going fastball away my whole at-bat, and I was chasing them,” Lamb said. “With those bad swings I was taking, it’s only natural that he’s going to keep going there until I make an adjustment. I just got ready for a fastball away and put a good swing on it.

“I didn’t think it was going out, but with the wind blowing across towards left field, I had a little help, and that’s always nice.”

Not from a Suns perspective.

It marked the fourth consecutive home loss to the BayBears and dropped the Suns to a season-worst five games under .500.

It didn’t leave Barkett in a pleasant mood afterward.

“It stinks to lose. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to execute,” Barkett said. “This is Double-A baseball. This isn’t A-ball anymore. When we don’t make pitches in certain situations and we don’t have good at-bats in certain situations, you can’t expect good things to happen.”

Jacksonville pitchers continued to struggle.

Starter Justin Nicolino allowed the first four batters to hit safely with a homer, two singles and a double, good for two runs.

Nicolino did recover after that, setting down 14 of the next 15 batters he faced.

Relievers Collin Cargill and Greg Nappo combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings. But Wittgren then served up the three-run homer. All three relievers have an ERA of 4.91 or higher.

Brent Keys and Alfredo Lopez combined for half of the Suns’ eight hits.

Nicolino had a double.

Danny Black had a hit, two walks and drove in two runs for Jacksonville.

The one win in the five-game series with the BayBears marked the second time this year that the Suns only managed a single win in a home series. They were 1-4 against Huntsville in the opening series of the season.

Jacksonville begins a five-game set in Pensacola against the Blue Wahoos on Thursday.

After that, the Suns return to the Baseball Grounds next Wednesday to start a 10-game homestand against Jackson and Montgomery.